PHARMACY bodies must build on the profession's success in supporting health systems around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the potential of pharmacists, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Vice President, Ashok Soni, believes.
Addressing a webinar last night, Soni noted that pharmacists have played a central role in the global response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
"There's been a huge outflowing of gratitude and recognition of pharmacists and the role the pharmacists are playing," he said.
"But at the same time there's still this challenge about how well they're recognised by governments and by the public on an ongoing basis.
"As we move beyond this, part of the responsibility from an organisational perspective is to make sure that we continue to tell the story of what pharmacists are doing, but also tell the story of what pharmacists can do and how they can make things better going forward."
Soni said that in the wake of comments about COVID-19 treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and disinfectant injection, pharmacies are "going to be the place that people come to for true information... and to be able to deal with the fake news".
Closing the webinar Soni encouraged pharmacists to "believe in yourselves as pharmacists, recognise what a fantastic job you are doing, and most of all keep safe and keep well".
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